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F.W. de Klerk was the last President of apartheid-era South Africa. In less than four years, he went from being Mandela's jailor to his vice president. Together they changed history for the better, yet little is known about de Klerk. This film explores this complicated figure's fascinating political journey and legacy.
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
Rossier strikes a delicate but credible balance between the former leader's unambiguous statements that he didn't know anything about assassinations and critics' insistence that, even if he didn't specifically give orders, he was "politically and morally responsible."
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
None of this is particularly cinematic (he relies much too heavily on title cards to fill in historical blanks), but it is engaging, mainly because the stakes were so high and the statesmanship so delicate.
Village Voice by Ernest Hardy
The film itself is solidly and conventionally crafted. Newsreels and stock footage alternate with fresh interviews with friends and scholars, steadfast supporters and unabashed detractors. The political life it maps out fascinates.
Variety by Guy Lodge
It’s an opportunity only half seized: Haphazard both as biography and historical survey, the film asks more salient questions than it can answer in a rushed 76 minutes.
Slant Magazine by Clayton Dillard
The material being offered has been edited, composed, and made sentimental with the rigor of a political ad campaign.
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